To: Modernman
Lee never quite grasped that.Lee grasped it. He grasped it as early as 1861. He knew that he could never win a war of attrition. He fought to win a stunning victory...to sap the North's will to continue the fight as quickly as possible.
222 posted on
07/19/2004 11:32:13 AM PDT by
carton253
(All I am and all I have is at the service of my country. General Jackson)
To: carton253
He fought to win a stunning victory...to sap the North's will to continue the fight as quickly as possible. He badly underestimated his opposition then.
223 posted on
07/19/2004 11:36:17 AM PDT by
Non-Sequitur
(Jefferson Davis - the first 'selected, not elected' president.)
To: carton253
Lee grasped it. He grasped it as early as 1861. He knew that he could never win a war of attrition. He fought to win a stunning victory...to sap the North's will to continue the fight as quickly as possible. He was exhbiting his ingrained post-Napoleanic view of war in making that determination. The Army of Northern Virginia won most of its battles. In many cases, in a decisive fashion. However, the only way the South could have won the Civil War was if Lincoln had lost the support of the North in his endeavour. Long, drawn-out trench warfare was the answer. Offensives into Pennsylvania were not.
233 posted on
07/19/2004 11:48:13 AM PDT by
Modernman
("I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members" -Groucho Marx)
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